Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Elite Referee Mohd Nafeez Abdyul Wahab is hoping to clinch his first job as the first referee at top clubs championship AFC Champions League (ACL) this year.
Nafeez who was a fourth official in several FIFA mathches last year and refereed at the AFC’s youth and second-tier club competition, the AFC Cup, personally feels it’s time for him to up the stakes and perform in the elite clubs championship and take his refereeing career higher.
The 32-year old, an international since 2008, last worked as a fourth official in the 2014 FIFA World Cup third round qualification match between Bahrain and Iran and also performed either as a first referee or fourth official in the 2012 AFC U-19, U-16 and Challenge Cup qualifiers as well 2011 ACL Group Stage.
“I’m preparing hard to excel in my current appointment as well as future appointments,” Nafeez told the-afc.com during a break from a course he is taking, the Elite Men’s Referees’ Course Group 2, part of the programme under the AFC Elite Education Seminar (EES) 2012 in Kuala Lumpur.
“I’m training physically everyday and am getting ample local exposure such as in the Malaysian Super League to warm me up for future FIFA and AFC work.
“And this EES course is the fourth one I have attended and every year it’s giving us new information such as amendment to the Laws of the Game, for example the new ruling on thights that now must be of the same colour as the player’s jersey.
“There are trivia questions everyday during this course that keeps us fresh at all times and the instructors are top-rate. For the first time AFC has invited a psychologist who has shared with several psychological techniques such as breathing technique and so on.
“All these prepare me for my upcoming role. I’ve been working as a fourth official in the ACL for three years now and I hope I will get appointments as a first referee. It’s time to raise the stakes and challenge myself with a higher responsibility at a higher level.”